The Flight of Icarus
by AllXXAloneXX
Summary: Raccoon city is under attack! Zombies, zombies everywhere! What will Umbrella do! Original story so please R&R. Chapter 2 is up.
1. Chapter 1

It had been a quiet ride, something that was both an unwelcome stranger and welcoming friend. It was in this silence that gave people the respite to think and it was in this thinking that people began to lose their composure. This was no different, at least in that sense. Above the rotation of the engine and the spinning of the rotors made this an even more morbid place to be. Each had been left to their own thoughts about what they were about to do and the implications of those events. The trip was only a few hours by air but it seemed to each member that their life was slowly playing out in front of them, like they were the participants and the spectators to their lives. No longer noticing the heavy equipment that they carried they were burden by a new weight; their conscious. The U.S.S. was not an organization that was known for its charitable acts and the members were not known for their sin free lives. For the most part, these things could be over looked by those that carried them, but at times like these, in the dark corners of their minds these thoughts slowly began to seep in and like a virus, infect and spread until that was all the mind dwelled on.

With a short static hiss over the head set, their minds returned. Despite the tinted lenses of the masks he knew, he knew that all their eyes were now looking at him and he returned the favour, casting firm looks into the black lenses. Turning his vision down to the floor he nodded, his sharp blue eyes looking back up as he finished the nod. With a quick lean to his right and glance toward the pilot he knew that the time was almost here. In the green light of the instruments he could barely make out the face of the pilot, not that it mattered.

"Two minutes so tighten your panties and get ready". The pilot's voice was gruff despite the humour almost as to say he had done things like this before. In all honesty, he really didn't understand what the pilot had to be dreary about because after all, once his team was put in the pilot got to fly away, maybe never to return. From where he was standing, these two airmen seemed to have the best job in the world.

None of that mattered right now as he returned from his leaning position back to where he had started. Holding up his right hand he brought up two fingers, allowing the others to know the e.t.a. to the LZ. They made no movement but he knew they had seen it and understood as one by one they seemed to come back to life, stretching out and adjusting weapons. This would be Echo team's first trip out together and they were on edge. With the exception of himself, all the other members of the six man team were green, fresh out of the B.O.W. training program. They had all done very well but that was under controlled conditions and far from what the field would be like. But he had faith, faith that they would perform as well as anyone would and that they would all be celebrating over a cold drink in a few hours.

"Thirty seconds." It was the co-pilot this time, his voice seemed a little more sympathetic and remorseful about dropping them into hell. "Good luck…"

His last two words trailed off with that sense of doubt that saying it would make any difference, but it helped, if only a little. From the twin booms that reached out from either side the roof of the hovering Blackhawk the ropes were released, dropping off into the darkness below. He was the first one down, the black combat boots hitting the roof with a thud muffled by the rotors above. On the other side, Spectre touched down. Immediately both performed the tradition hundred eighty degree sweep for hostiles. There were none. With a simple wave of his hand the other four members joined them on the roof, the thuds from their landings also muffled by the rotors that hovered about them.

"Archangel 6 has touched down," he was doing his best to sound as calm and relaxed as he could but even then he noticed a slight uneasy tone in his voice. "Repeat, Archangel 6 has touched down."

For a moment the radio stayed silent, giving a dramatic and tense feel to an already tense situation. After was seemed like minutes it cracked and a soft yet commanding voice came through.

"Confirmed, Archangel 6 touched down." Even without seeing the man on the other end of the line he could tell that the man was one of the top brass, an old desk jockey that was determined to remind everyone that he ran the show and his way was the only way. "Commence Operation Frostbite."

The channel went silent again as he responded with a single, simple sentence.

"Operation Frostbite commencing."


	2. Chapter 2

It had been raining the day before and Raccoon city stilled showed the signs of it. Puddles and run off covered the streets and roof tops, seemingly washing away all the bad that had accumulated and allowed for a fresh start, almost. It was early morning or late at night, depending on how one looked at things when the helicopter finally broke its hover and began moving off. The four heavy black ropes that the team had used now lay discarded on the roof, coiled around and forming four little black mounds that served as the only marker of the teams landing.

Moving silently across the roof they surveyed their surroundings, checking and rechecking the flanks just in the off chance that they were not alone. They all knew that it would be only them up there but as soon as their boots touched the building, the training took over. It had been drilled into them over and over again so that now, it was all automatic. When the roof access door was finally reached, the six man team moved into the standard breeching deployment with two men on either side of the door, one in front to open it and the other three covering the rear. The door was locked and although they had been expecting it, it was still aggravating. As if on cue, Spectre moved over to the front of the door and brought a pump action shotgun down and in line with the lock, destroying it with a quick blast and then returning the shot gun to his back.

One by one, the team filled in and began moving down the stairs, sweeping the dark areas with their rifle mounted flashlights as they moved. Someone would have surely heard the gunshot, especially at this time of night and would be sure to call the police. The team's only saving grace was that by the time that the police showed up, they would be safely back on a helo leaving the city. Down flight after flight they moved, there speed being deceptively quite as the footfalls could hardly be heard even in the empty and echo prone space.

When the beam of his flashlight finally hit a sign showing the number three they stopped and again, formed around the doorway before trying the lock. This time their luck held and the door was unlocked and opened silently before the team moved through. The hallway was not dark as they had hoped, but rather illuminated faintly by a few lights that were left on. The white tile helped make it brighter by reflecting some of the light and brightening up a few of the darkened offices. Silence was no longer a necessity, being replaced by speed. At a brisk pace they moved down the hall, sending the flashlight beams through the large windows that skirted both sides of the hall and illuminated the rooms.

The office they wanted was the last one on the hall which was nice as it made finding it much easier. Stopping in front of it, he did a quick check to make sure it was the right one, the gold letters of the name brightening under the beam of the flashlight. Looking back over his shoulder towards the rest of them, he gave a brief nod and moved back, allowing Oddball to take his place and with a firm kick, the door gave way and flew back on its hinges, hitting the wall behind with a loud whack. He was the first in the room with Oddball and Spectre filtering in behind him. A quick sweep of the room was done before they moved to the lowly computer perched on the desk by the window. The silence was soon deafened by the whir of the computer as Oddball sat down and went to work.

"I'm gunna need about five minutes to get in and pull up what I need, then maybe another half hour to transfer all the data and wipe the computer clean." Oddball didn't break his lock on the monitor as he said this and he didn't break his gaze out the window to look at Oddball, just nodding before moving to the door.

Outside the room, Reaver, Boomer, and Red stood watch, their rifles held in a low relaxed position but able to be pulled up fast if needed. He didn't say anything to them, instead just looking quickly down the hall before returning to the room and moving back in front of the window. This was going to be an easy job and he had known that right from the start, the perfect way to see how his team would perform in the field. There was no sense in putting them into hell right from the get go, there would be enough of that later on. No, right now all he wanted to do was get them used to being together and to each other.

Staring out of the window, time seemed to vanish. What seemed like only moments was in reality tens of minutes and after what seemed like seconds, he felt a hand on his shoulder and Oddball's voice entered his ear.

"I'm done boss. Data is transferred and the computer's been wiped… Hey boss, you in there"

He didn't say anything, just nodded and turned to leave the room but was interrupted. Over the radio, there came a transmission that neither he nor his men had sent. It was from somewhere else, something that their equipment had picked up inadvertently.

"Officer down… -cer down!... Backup immediately… things are everywhere…"

From the looks he was sure Oddball and Spectre were giving him, they had heard it too. There was no point in trying to explain what that was all about because he didn't know for one and it didn't matter. They were done with the objective and all that was left now was to be extracted. Everything other than that really didn't matter at this point and time. So without a word he moved out into the hallway and started for the stairs, the others falling in behind them. In a few more minutes they would be on the helo and heading out of this city, back to a cold drink and something to eat.

"Raven, this is Archangel 6. We have the package and are en route to the extraction. E.T.A. is thirty seconds." As calm as his voice was, he was concerned. Something was wrong here and his brain was fluttering with the possibilities, fuelled by that garbled radio traffic they had picked up before. He wanted to get out of here fast, faster than he should have.

"Roger Archangel 6. We're five minutes out. Looks like you boys are leaving right on time too. We've been picking up radio traffic from the city and looks like there is some weird shit going on down there."

He didn't bother to answer, instead focusing on just getting out of the college and onto the helo. Once that was done, then he would begin to wonder what was going on. Besides, they were so close to being home free, the door to the stairwell being right in front of them. Moving at something closer to a jog that a walk, the dark offices seemed to fly by them, not that anyone really paid attention to them. In his head, he kept repeating how close they were over and over again. They were so close, so very close but they would never make it any closer than that. Seemingly out of nowhere, someone stepped out into the hallway and immediately they slowed and stopped, confused looks on each of their faces hidden by the masks. Looking back over his shoulder, unsure, he watched as Spectre shrugged. No one was supposed to be here at this time of night, no one should be here at this time of night. That was why it was decided to send them in at this time, no witnesses.

But something was off about whoever it was in front of them. The person didn't act surprised or startled by running into a group of black clad soldiers carrying very intimidating weapons. It was like the gear and weaponry had even been noticed at all as the person started moving towards them very slowly. The next warning flag was sent up by how the stranger moved. Instead of fluid and controlled movements, it's were slow, uncoordinated and clumsy. He wasn't about to take any chances though and brought his M4 to bear on the stranger. Clicking the attached flashlight on, he shown it right at the persons face and what he saw made his blood run cold.

In front of him was a man, maybe twenties or so. His skin was grey, the veins in his arms were almost black and his eyes were milky white. He has all the trademark signs of being infected and he was now moving towards the squad.

"Oh shit… boss, he's infected! We gotta kill him and kill him fast!" As usual Red voiced the plainly obvious but he didn't care, not this time. He was still caught up in the fact that in front of them was someone who had been infected. They hadn't been told about any outbreaks or contaminations, not even a security breach had been mentioned.

As the seconds ticked by, he remained frozen, still trying to figure out how this could have happened and why no one had thought to mention this little detail before they had taken off. Only Oddball's voice and smack to the back of the head snapped him out of his daze.

"Oi, Jester, wake the fuck up! Do we engage or not?"

Jester didn't even bother to answer, instead sending a single shot down the barrel and through the silencer of his M4 and straight through the infected head. Thanks to the training, they all knew that was the only way to kill someone who's been infected. Anything else was just a waste of time and ammunition and that could prove to be fatal. Looking back at his men, Jester nodded towards the door.

"We engage only the ones that are in the way, leave the others alone. "

He tried his best to hide the worry in his voice but when he spoke, he could tell that his efforts had been in vain. Command had sent them into a battlefield with only half the intel they should have had and with none of the right equipment. None of that mattered now though, all that mattered was making it the helo that would be landing soon. As they ran towards the door, Jester took this time to remind them of what they were to do if they ran into anymore of those things.

"Remember, shoot them in the head. One shot, one kill. Don't waste ammo and leave those silencers on, the more sound we make the more of those things we'll attract. "

No sooner had the last word left his mouth did another one drag itself out of a darkened office, once more blocking their path. Oddball dropped it with a single shot to the head only to show another one behind it. One by one they came out of hiding, ambling their way out of the dark offices and began to fill up the corridor, increasing the gap between the team and the stairway that would leave them to the roof and safety. Taking several steps back, Jester began picking off the ones that he could and the others joined in with sporadic fire from both sides.

"Move back, move back and watch those flanks! I'm not getting surrounded by those things."

His traditional monotone voice had vanished and was replaced by something a little more fearful. Jester was off balance, caught up in the fact that in front of him were more and more of the things that he had hoped he would never need to face in the field. He knew he needed to calm down and do it fast, but for the moment, until he got his head around things, that wasn't going to happen. If he didn't get a grip and fast, it could mean the deaths of his team and himself because if he was off balance, so were his men. Back down the hall they moved, the muffled gunshots breaking the air and the song of the infected echoing down the empty halls. As the infected dropped, it became more and more apparent how dire the situation was becoming.

"Boomer, find us a way out of this goddamn hallway and right now!"

Jester knew it, Boomer knew it, hell, the whole squad knew that this hallway was the last place they should be. Sure, it was confined and it channelled everything down a single path and made killing them easier but should anything happen and they get cut off or surrounded, it would all be over. The best place to be at that moment was in a wide open space that gave them plenty of room to move around and escape, ultimately. Looking back over his shoulder quickly, he watched Boomer dash off down the hall, enter an office and disappear. Returning his attention to the matter at hand, Jester continued to send single shots down the hall, hoping that there would be an end to this tide which would allow him to get his team out of there.

"Hey boss, I got it. Other end of this hall is the main staircase that goes down to the bottom floor. We use that to get down there and outside, call the helo in and evac from the ground."

Boomer was out of breath and his voice panicked something that was never good in a soldier. Jester's fear was beginning to show in his team and right now he needed them focused and alert. The route Boomer had picked was risky but it was the only shot they had.

"Ya, alright. Everyone pull back towards the stairs; engage any hostiles you see on your way out. Oddball, stick with me and cover the rest. Reaver, you will cover the doorway to the stairs until Oddball and I get there."

No one gave a response to his instructions, they didn't have too. With Boomer leading the way, everyone but himself and Oddball headed down the hall at a run. Neither man looked behind them to see how the rest were doing as their hands were full with the targets in front of them. Casing after casing clinked on the tile floor, rolling carelessly away, not bothered by the danger to those that had fired them.

"Raven, this is Archangel 6. We are heavily engaged and can't make the evac site on the roof. Request that evac point be changed to the courtyard."

The silence that followed Jester's message seemed like forever but when the answer came, it was nothing but good news.

"Roger Archangel 6. New evac site is the courtyard out front of the building. Our E.T.A. is twenty seconds."

For the first time since he had set foot in Raccoon City Jester cracked a smile. The helo would be there for only a minute or so before they would be and once they got on, it was clear sailing from there.

"Confirmed Raven. See you soon and watch yourself."

The radio faded back into silence as he and Oddball continued to try and hold the tide back. As the last round flew out of the rifle, he looked back to see if he and Oddball could join the others. No one was there and things weren't getting any easier. Without looking he tapped Oddball on the shoulder and gave him the signal to pull back to which he was only too happy to comply with. As they sprinted down the hall and Jester replaced his spent magazine, the radio clattered and Reaver's voice came through.

"Boss, we're here but you better hurry your ass down here. Seems to be quite the party in this place, damn infected are everywhere."

They didn't need any motivation to move any faster, all they had to do was listen to the sounds of the things coming after them and that was motivation enough.

"We're on our way, just give us a little more time and keep the hallway clear."

As the pair rounded the last corner they were met by the bodies of a few dead infected covering the floor. It wasn't quite as bad as they had been expecting but they certainly didn't want to wait any longer. Sure enough Reaver was there, his weapon raised and aimed towards them. Without so much as a word he stood up and moved out into the stairwell with Jester and Oddball close behind him. They didn't bother locking or trying to barricade the door behind them, sure that the helo would be waiting for them in the courtyard. Steps were taken two and three at a time as they descended, nervous glances being made behind them as well as in front of them.

Slowly opening the ground floor door Jester peered around it, his M4 at the ready and the darkened hall being lit up by the beam from his flashlight. There was nothing, a good sign to say the least. Raising his left arm over his head, he gave the signal for the squad to move out and one by one they made their way into the hall. More alert than ever they made sure to check their corners, shine their lights into the dark offices and anywhere else that could be hiding one of the unfortunate infected. With little haste the team moved down the hall and out a side door before skirting the edge of the courtyard. A quick check of the courtyard showed that they were the only ones there, much to the relief of them all.

"Raven, we've reached the evac site. What's your E.T.A.?"

To his surprise, the question was only met by silence. After waiting a moment longer, Jester got on the radio again, concern beginning to appear in his mind.

"Raven, this is Archangel 6. We have reached the evac site, request your E.T.A., over."

Once again, the question was met with an empty channel. At this point his mind was racing, trying to figure out why they wouldn't be answering his hails. What he came up with wasn't good, not even close. Figuring that it couldn't hurt, he tried once more but was met with the same. Looking around at the rest of the team he looked for any sign that they might have noticed something, anything that could be their desperately needed helo. There was nothing and each man kept his eyes peeled on the courtyard before them, looking for the slightest sign of trouble. His gazed turned to the ground and with a muffled sigh, he got back on the radio and tried to reach command.

"Parasol, this is Archangel 6. Respond, it's urgent."

The response this time was nearly instantaneous. The last word had barely left his mouth when the static came on, followed by a gruff voice.

"Archangel 6, Parasol receiving you. What's your situation."

At last he had been met with success, something that almost brought a smile to his face. Almost. With no hesitation, not wanting to take the chance that the connection would drop, Jester began telling how things had gone from good to disastrous in a matter of less than an hour.

"We've recovered the data and while on route to extraction we came across biological and were forced to engage. We had to change the evac site but Raven hasn't shown up. Request an update as to the situation."

Even now he knew that command was not responsible for their helo not showing up but it was worth a shot. Besides, he figured that this would at least give him a chance to ask why they hadn't been told about the presence of infected personnel.

"The Raven should be at the evac site Archangel, the last transmission from the helo put them on approach to the courtyard. We will look into it and get another bird to you immediately. For now, priority is given to keeping the intel secure and refraining from engaging infected personnel as much as possible. Understood?"

This was also something that Jester had been expecting so it came as no surprise when they passed down that order. But that was okay, he was sure that his team didn't want to fight those things off any more than he did so evasion was definitely a good start.

"Understood. One more thing Parasol. Why were we not informed of the presence of infected before dust off?"

There was a bit of delay from command this time, something that told him that they were either looking for an excuse or trying to find something to use to change the subject and change it fast.

"We were not aware of an infected at the time Archangel. We had picked up cross talk from R.P.D. and other sources but nothing of any value. The infected presence was just made known to us and we hadn't been able to contact you."

This time it was his turn to pause and think, trying to sort out if their words were honest or not. Chances were that they did know and were simply trying to cover their asses like some little kid that had been caught in a lie, but he couldn't be sure.

"Understood Parasol. Alert us when the bird is in the air, Archangel 6 out."

As the connection went dead, Jester leaned back against the hard brick wall. His mind was racing, trying to figure out what he needed to do in order to complete the mission and keep his men alive. Oddball was the first to say something and his voice shattered Jester's thoughts.

"So boss, what's the plan? We can't just sit here and wait for that other bird can we?"

Oddball was right, but everyone here knew that they couldn't wait around for the bird to come get them. What they needed right now was a place to hold up, some place high with a flat roof was preferable. Unfortunately, they had no way of knowing where such a building was. The only other option was to start moving towards the city limits and hope that the bird could pick them up along the way.

"No, we can't. Right now our best chance is start moving towards the edge of the city and maybe gets an evac along the way."

Either option here present a huge risk and a massive problem for the team but their options were limited and there wasn't much else they could do. With a group nod, the decision was made.

"Alright, saddle up boys, we have a long walk."


End file.
